It's always an honor to help make my favorite event happen, a party for the city! So much hard work and love from so many people goes into it. I hope it's a fun and art-filled summer for the festival-goers, a creative and prosperous one for the artists, and an all around great time for everyone!

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Impressionism: In a New Light is a wonderful exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Art which highlights the radical nature of the Impressionist movement. These now familiar and well-loved painters were indeed considered "shocking" in their time, introducing a new way of painting, a new way of seeing, and personal expression through the emotional power of color. (So "shocking" in fact, legend has it, that a viewer of an Impressionist exhibition reacted to seeing the new paintings by running out into the street and biting another man on the leg, driven "mad" by those loose colors! Imagine that!)

What is particularly exciting about this exhibition (which is surprisingly and delightfully extensive - a merit to the Carnegie's own collection), is the parallel it draws between Impressionism and Pictorialism, with several beautiful images by photographers Stieglitz, Cameron, and Käsebier.

In the last room, Monet's Waterlilies are lovingly displayed on a curved wall reminiscent of the Musee de l'Orangerie.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Looking forward to the Pittsburgh Sketch Crawl this weekend, a 6-hour drawing marathon through downtown Pittsburgh! I just completed the map, and it's going to be very visually inspiring, and I just saw the weather report, and it's going to be gorgeous! Perfect! The Sketch Crawl is FREE to participate, a Second Saturday Art Workshop presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's Education Dept. Illustrator Rick Antolic will be on hand to help participants with their drawings. Pre-register here: http://trustarts.culturaldistrict.org/event/3296/pittsburgh-sketch-crawl-workshop

Saturday, May 5, 2012

(on display in the 2012 Juried Biennial at the Westmoreland Museum of Art)

Just got back from a very enjoyable day trip to Greensburg to see the Juried Biennial at the Westmoreland Museum of Art. The Biennial offers a look at the amazing work being created by contemporary local artists, which is very diverse, making for an eclectic, fun exhibit. The above image, by Daniel Marsula, was one of our favorites.

We also visited the museum's permanent collection, which now also maintains a selection of the Born of Fire exhibit from a few years back, featuring beautiful Pittsburgh scenery and a glimpse at the city's history. It was a lovely afternoon!